Franz Biberkopf
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Guide to referencing
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| Using references (citations) |
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I thought you might find it useful to have some information about references (refs) on wikipedia. These are important to validate your writing and inform the reader. Any editor can removed unreferenced material; and unsubstantiated articles may end up getting deleted, so when you add something to an article, it's highly advisable to also include a reference to say where it came from. Referencing may look daunting, but it's easy enough to do. Here's a guide to getting started.
A reference must be accurate, i.e. it must prove the statement in the text. To validate "Mike Brown climbed Everest", it's no good linking to a page about Everest, if Mike Brown isn't mentioned, nor to one on Mike Brown, if it doesn't say that he climbed Everest. You have to link to a source that proves his achievement is true. You must use reliable sources, such as published books, mainstream press, authorised web sites, and official documents. Blogs, Myspace, Youtube, fan sites and extreme minority texts are not usually acceptable, nor is original research, e.g. your own unpublished, or self-published, essay or research.
The first thing you have to do is to create a "Notes and references" section (unless it already exists). This goes towards the bottom of the page, below the "See also" section and above the "External links" section. Enter this code:
The next step is to put a reference in the text. Here is the code to do that. It goes at the end of the relevant term, phrase, sentence, or paragraph to which the note refers, and after punctuation such as a full stop, without a space (to prevent separation through line wrap):
Whatever text you put in between these two tags will become visible in the "Notes and references" section as your reference.
Open the edit box for this page, copy the following text (inserting your own text where indicated), paste it at the bottom of the page and save the page:
(End of text to copy and paste.) It should appear like this:
You need to include the information to enable the reader to find your source. For an online newspaper source, it might look like this:
When uploaded, it appears as:
Note the single square brackets around the URL and the article title. The format is:
Make sure there is a space between the URL and the Title. This code results in the URL being hidden and the title showing as a link. Use double apostrophes for the article title (it is quoted text), and two single quote marks either side of the name of the paper (to generate italics). Double square brackets round the name of the paper create an internal link (a wikilink) to the relevant wikipedia article. Apostrophes must go outside the brackets. The date after The Guardian is the date of the newspaper, and the date after "Retrieved on" is the date you accessed the site – useful for searching the web archive in case the link goes dead. Dates are wikilinked so that they work with user preference settings to display the date in the format the user wishes.
You can use sources which are not online, but which you have found in a library or elsewhere—in which case leave out the information which is not relevant. The newspaper example above would be formatted like this:
When uploaded, it appears as:
Here is an example for a book:
When uploaded, it appears as:
Make sure you put two single quote marks round the title (to generate italics), rather than one double quote mark.
These formats are all acceptable for dates:
You may prefer to use a citation template to compile details of the source. The template goes between the ref tags and you fill out the fields you wish to. Basic templates can be found here: Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles/Citation quick reference
The first time a reference appears in the article, you can give it a simple name in the <ref> code:
The second time you use the same reference in the article, you need only to create a short cut instead of typing it all out again:
You can then use the short cut as many times as you want. Don't forget the /, or it will blank the rest of the article! A short cut will only pick up from higher up the page, so make sure the first ref is the full one. Some symbols don't work in the ref name, but you'll find out if you use them. You can see multiple use of the same refs in action in the article William Bowyer (artist). There are 3 sources and they are each referenced 3 times. Each statement in the article has a footnote to show what its source is.
The above method is simple and combines references and notes into one section. A refinement is to put the full details of the references in their own section headed "References", while the notes which apply to them appear in a separate section headed "Notes". The notes can be inserted in the main article text in an abbreviated form as seen in Harriet Arbuthnot or in a full form as in Brown Dog affair.
More information can be found at:
I hope this helps. If you need any assistance, let me know. |
Sock
editPlease look at WP:SOCK and stick to one account. Tyrenius (talk) 02:35, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
You made this edit that change referenced material and insert original research. Please desist and see WP:V and WP:NOR. Content needs to be referenced. Tyrenius (talk) 02:37, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
- Yet again, kindly stop deleting referenced material, altering referenced quotes, and inserting your own unreferenced material. If you carry on like this you are likely to be blocked from editing as a disruptive user. This will apply whatever user name or IP address you edit from. Please discuss things on the article talk page. Tyrenius (talk) 14:51, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
January 2008
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This is the last warning you will receive for your disruptive edits.
The next time you vandalize Wikipedia, as you did to Defastenism, you will be blocked from editing. freshacconcispeaktome 17:38, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
Sign
editAs a courtesy to other editors, it is a Wikipedia guideline to sign your posts on talk pages, user talk pages, and WikiProject pages. To do so, simply add four tildes (~~~~) at the end of your comments. Your user name or IP address (if you are not logged in) and the date will then be automatically added along with a timestamp when you save your comment. Signing your comments helps people to find out who said something and provides them with a link to your user/talk page (for further discussion). For further info, read Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines. Thank you. Tyrenius (talk) 18:53, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
Dear Sir/Madam, Thanks for your information regarding my "vandalism". I'm genuinely sorry that I seem to altering the information currently displayed but much of it is either wrong or biased. Once again,I must remind you that Padraic E.Moore does not wish to be labelled as Christy Moore's son in this context. The Defastenists did not show at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. That was a misprint in Irish Times in which an architectural critic was asked about the cutural highlights of 2006. Several comments were mistakenly combined in the editing process. Furthermore,the information regarding the Celebration on the Guinness estate is reductive and misleading as is much of the description of the groups continued practice. This group of practitioners have effectively been misrepresented by this entry. If I make some changes in the coming weeks and subsantiate them according to sources etc,will they be retained? regards, Franz B
- Wikipedia has three core policies: WP:V, WP:NPOV and WP:NOR. This means that all material has to be derived from published secondary sources deemed to be reliable sources, such as published books, mainstream press, authorised web sites (for non-contentious information), and official documents. Blogs, Myspace, Youtube, fan sites and extreme minority texts are not usually acceptable, nor is original research, e.g. your own unpublished, or self-published, essay or research, or your own personal knowledge of a subject. Furthermore, wikipedia does not write what people want to say about themselves: it writes what these sources say.
- You imply you are part of the Defastenist group. If so, you should read WP:COI. The fact is that Padraic E. Moore has been labelled as such in the Irish Times and elsewhere I have seen on the net, which makes it problematic, but is something that can be discussed. You should make it clear if you are Padraic E. Moore, which may need to be validated.
- We go by sources. Otherwise anyone would be able put anything they felt like in an article. Assuming you are part of the group, I suggest you put a statement on the Defastenism web site correcting the Irish Museum of Modern Art statement. This can then be clarified with a suitable footnote.
- The Guinness estate material was from the source. That is mandatory in wikipedia. Again a correction can be referenced from the Defastenist site or other suitable source. Likewise for continuing practice. That does not mean anything sourced will be removed; it means there will be a contrasting view.
- Please be specific about comments mistakenly combined. Which ones exactly and what should they have been? Using sources again, that is.
- I suggest you put proposed changes and the relevant sources on the article talk page in the first instance, so other editors can assess them and discuss problems. This is the safest method.